The portfolio managers
maintain a rigorous sell discipline and consider selling or trimming a position in a stock when it no longer materially meets our investment criteria, including when (1) a stock reaches its fair valuation (target price); (2) a
company’s fundamental business prospects deteriorate; or (3) a more attractive investment opportunity presents itself.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with any
mutual fund investment, loss of money is a risk of investing. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. The risks associated
with an investment in the Fund can increase during times of significant market volatility. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:
Market Risk. The market values of the
Fund’s investments, and therefore the value of the Fund’s shares, will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Market risk may affect a single issuer, industry or section of the economy, or it
may affect the market as a whole. The value of the Fund’s investments may go up or down due to general market conditions that are not specifically related to the particular issuer. These market conditions may include
real or perceived adverse economic conditions, changes in trade regulation or economic sanctions, changes in the general outlook for revenues or corporate earnings, changes in interest or currency rates, regional or
global instability and uncertainty, natural or environmental disasters, widespread disease or other public health issues, war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, economic crisis or adverse investor sentiment generally, among
others. Certain changes in the U.S. economy in particular, such as when the U.S. economy weakens or when its financial markets decline, may have a material adverse effect on global financial markets as a whole, and on the
securities to which the Fund has exposure. Increasingly strained relations between the U.S. and foreign countries, including as a result of economic sanctions and tariffs, may also adversely affect U.S. issuers, as well as
non-U.S. issuers.
During a general downturn in the financial markets, multiple
asset classes may decline in value. When markets perform well, there can be no assurance that
specific investments held by the Fund will rise in value.
Investing in Stocks
Risk. The value of the Fund’s portfolio may be affected by changes in the stock markets. Stock markets may experience significant short-term volatility and
may fall or rise sharply at times. Adverse events in any part of the equity or fixed-income markets may have unexpected negative effects on other market segments. Different stock markets may behave differently from each
other and U.S. stock markets may move in the opposite direction from one or more foreign stock markets.
The prices of individual stocks generally do not all move in the same
direction at the same time. However, individual stock prices tend to go up and down more
dramatically than those of certain other types of investments, such as bonds. A variety of factors can negatively affect the price of a particular company’s stock. These factors may include, but are not limited to: poor earnings
reports, a loss of customers, litigation against the company, general unfavorable performance of the company’s sector or industry, or changes in government regulations affecting the company or its industry. To the extent that
securities of a particular type are emphasized (for example foreign stocks, stocks of small- or mid-cap companies, growth or value stocks, or stocks of companies in a particular industry), Fund share values may fluctuate more in
response to events affecting the market for those types of securities.
Value Investing Risk. Value investing entails the risk that if the market does not recognize that a selected security is
undervalued, the price of that security might not appreciate as anticipated. Value securities are
subject to the risk that their valuations never improve or that the returns on value securities
are lower than returns on other styles of investing or the overall stock market. Thus, the value of the Fund’s investments will vary and, at times, may be lower than that of other types of investments. Value investing has gone in and out of
favor during past market cycles and when
value investing is out of favor or when markets are unstable, value securities may underperform growth
securities or the overall stock market.
Dividend Risk. As a group, securities that pay high dividends may fall out of favor with investors and underperform
companies that do not pay high dividends. Also, changes in the dividend policies of such companies
and the capital resources available for such companies’ dividend payments may affect the
Fund. There is the possibility that dividend-paying companies could reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends in the future or an anticipated acceleration of dividends may not occur. Depending on market conditions, dividend paying stocks
that meet the Fund’s investment criteria may not be widely available for purchase by the Fund, which may increase the volatility of the Fund’s returns and limit its ability to produce current income while remaining
fully diversified. High-dividend stocks may not experience high earnings growth or capital appreciation. The Fund’s performance during a broad market advance could suffer because dividend paying stocks may not experience the
same capital appreciation as non-dividend paying stocks.
Foreign Investment
Risk. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. Foreign securities may have
relatively low market liquidity, greater market volatility, decreased publicly available information and less reliable financial information about issuers, and inconsistent and potentially less stringent accounting, auditing and
financial reporting requirements and standards of practice, including recordkeeping standards, comparable to those applicable to domestic issuers. Foreign securities also are subject to the risks of possible seizure,
expropriation, nationalization, political or social instability, changes in economic or taxation policies or other adverse political or economic developments (in which the Fund could lose its entire investments in a certain market) and the
difficulty of enforcing obligations in other countries, including the possible adoption of foreign governmental restrictions such as exchange controls. Investments in foreign securities also may be subject to dividend
withholding or confiscatory taxes, currency blockage and/or transfer restrictions and higher transactional costs. To the extent the Fund invests in securities denominated in foreign currencies, fluctuations in the value of the U.S.
dollar relative to the values of other currencies may adversely affect investments in foreign securities and may negatively impact the Fund’s returns, unless the Fund has hedged its foreign currency exposure. Currency
exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. Currency hedging strategies, if used, may not always be successful. Foreign companies generally may be subject to less stringent regulations than U.S. companies,
including financial reporting requirements and auditing and accounting controls, and may therefore be more susceptible to fraud or corruption. There may be less public information available about foreign companies
than U.S. companies, making it difficult to evaluate those foreign companies. From time to time, certain companies in which the Fund invests may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions or embargoes
imposed by the U.S. government and the United Nations and/or in countries the U.S. government identified as state sponsors of terrorism. One or more of these companies may be subject to constraints under U.S. law or
regulations that could negatively affect the company’s performance. Additionally, one or more of these companies could suffer damage to its reputation if the market identifies it as a company that invests or deals with countries
that the U.S. government identifies as state sponsors of terrorism or is subject to sanctions.
Valuation Risk. The price the Fund could
receive upon the sale of a portfolio investment may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the investment, particularly for investments that trade in thin or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair valuation
methodology. Financial information related to securities of non-U.S. issuers may be less reliable than information related to securities of U.S. issuers, which may make it difficult to obtain a current price for a non-U.S. security
held by the Fund. When market quotations are not readily available for Fund investments, those investments are fair valued by the Adviser. There are multiple methods that can be used to fair value a portfolio investment and such
methods may involve more subjectivity than